PANAJI
Contractors working on the ‘Smart City’ projects in the capital city have been directed to employ a larger workforce and to also carry out work in night shifts to speed up work and meet the May 31 completion deadline.
The directions have been issued by the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held a review meeting with officials of the special purpose vehicle as well as from the contractor firms on Thursday.
Sawant heads IPSCDL Board of Directors as chairman and in comments to the media after the review meeting, he said, that the challenge to complete all work before the deadline will be met.
IPSCDL managing director and CEO, Sanjit Rodrigues, admitted that some of the work, especially manhole construction for the sewerage project was laggard due to major challenges related to high water table and also the tides of the river Mandovi.
In several places, technology has to be changed as trenching is not possible due to the high water table especially in Ribandar areas, he said.
Meanwhile, IPSCDL released a statement late Thursday evening that Sawant also reviewed the bus transit project which had hit a roadblock over the faulty design of the bus stop shelters.
Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited said the Chief Minister has directed that the design specifications and tender conditions for the bus shelters alongwith the proposal put forth by the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) be presented to the government for a decision.
